The Ruby of The Stars
by Rubyheart2045
Summary: Rubypaw, the daughter of Cinderheart and Lionblaze, is a cat with a special destiny. Followed by a spirit of an ancient cat, she goes on experiencing adventures. But as a darkness no one knows of looms closer than she thought, she must hurry before her friend regains his memory. My first story. Flames allowed but not too mean. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1: The Discovery

**Prologue**

"There," a gray tom with piercing blue eyes said, "the third and last one, Cinderheart. I'll leave you to discuss the names with Lionblaze."  
"Thank you so much Jayfeather!" A golden tom exclaimed, entering the enclosed space.  
"Anything for my brother" Jayfeather said.  
The golden tom approached his mate and sat next to her; they both gazed lovingly at their newborn kits. One was a silver she-cat like no other cat in the clan, one was a rusty gold tabby much like his father, and the last one, the most outstanding flaming red she-cat you would see.  
"What shall we name them Lionblaze?" Cinderheart asked. He hesitated for a moment  
"The silver she-cat should be named, Silverkit." Lionblaze murmured.  
"Very original," Cinderheart said nudging her mate, "and following your path, the golden tom will be called Goldenkit!" Lionblaze playfully swiped her ears. The both giggled for a moment then turned their attention to the last kit. Her bright red fur contrasted against her mother's pale grey fur.  
"Rubykit." Cinderheart murmured. At the sound of her new name the kit squirmed then settled down in the heat of her siblings.  
"Perfect." Lionblaze said just as Cinderheart laid her head on his shoulder, and gazed continuously at their kits until they both drifted off to sleep.

**Chapter 1**

I woke up at the sound of voices and ruffling about, the heat of Silverkit and Goldenkit was gone. I snuggled closer to my mother enjoying her heat, as she slowly started cleaning my head. Then I felt a paw prodding my stomach. I tried to avoid it but it didn't leave.  
"Come on Rubykit! Why won't you hurry up and open your eyes? Mom said we can't leave the nursery without you!" Silverkit whinnied. At the sound of going to the camp my eyes shot open and I jumped straight to my paws. I lost balance and fell on my butt. Silver kit laughed and looked at me. Her jaw fell open as if I was some weird cat.  
"Your eyes... Wow..." She said so softly. I jumped up again and stumbled all the way to the closest puddle and looked at myself. I had a flaming red pelt, but my eyes were the deepest blue, they were beautiful!  
I ran back to Silverkit and Goldenkit. I looked at them expectantly and walked towards the entrance of the nursery. They didn't move.  
"Hey, I thought we were going to explore the camp! Don't tell me I opened my eyes for nothing!" I said sarcastically. Realization dawned in their eyes, they go up and we all ran out of it excited about meeting all the warriors. As I stepped into the sun I stopped to enjoy the heat for a moment, then it was gone. My eyes flew open to see what was blocking my sun. A huge cat was looking down at the three of us. His pelt was grey and his blue eyes looked at me, but they seemed dull, as if he couldn't see.  
"Jayfeather!" I heard Lionblaze exclaim, "I see you met my kits!"  
"Lionblaze, I helped them come to life, how could I forget your kits?" Jayfeather said turning to look at Lionblaze. Silverkit was looking at him with awe.  
"You helped us come to life? Wow..." She said almost like she was hypnotized by him. He laughed a little then returned to his den. As soon as he left we all ran to the biggest den. It was huge! Then a huge white tom stepped out of the den. His paws almost made the ground shake. As he came closer and closer I thought he didn't see I and he would squish me like a bug.  
"Stop!" I yelled, hoping he heard me. He looked down at me and smiled. He crouched down so he could see me clearly.  
"You must be Rubykit!" He exclaimed, I nodded, "I'm Cloudtail." Oh. My. God! I was talking to a real warrior! I started jumping up and down, circling him, and jumping on top of him before asking my question: "Can you show me some battle moves?" He laughed as Goldenkit joined my pleading,  
"Not now, but instead I'll show you around okay?" He said getting back of his paws. We all nodded eagerly. He pointed at the huge den, "that's the warriors den, and the one next to it is the apprentices den." I ran to go see the apprentices and a ginger she cat stepped out. She was as big as the warriors but she was quite big! Then a cream and brown tom came out. He smiled when he saw me.  
"Ah! The newborn kits! Judging by your pelt, you must be Rubykit and you Goldenkit, unless your parents are crazy. Hey, where's Silverkit?" At the sound of Silverkit's name, I realized she had disappeared ever since we saw Jayfeather. I turned to look over near the medicine cats den to see Jayfeather explaining some boring stuff about herbs to her, and she seemed very interested. I wondered if she would want to be a medicine cat. I turned back to see that the apprentices were gone. Goldenkit too. I slowly walked back to the nursery and saw all the queens surrounding Dovewing. Sorreltail turned to me  
"Quick! Get Jayfeather! Dovewings kits are coming!" She said urgently. I didn't get why they needed Jayfeather but Dovewing was crying and yelling so I thought it may be kind of important. I ran quickly to the medicine cats den but bumped into a pale gray tom with black stripes.  
"Hey! I'm Bumblestripe, what's the big hurry?" He asked.  
"Dovewings kits are coming, I don't know why but they need Jayfeather!" I answered getting back on my paws  
"WHAT?! Oh my god! My kits! Dovewing! Don't panic! I have to go see Dovewing! No worries! Everything will be fine!" He said so fast to himself I couldn't even understand. He ran as fast as he could towards the nursery stumbling and tripping over and over again.  
"Just like Graystripe..." Cloudtail murmured as he watched Bumblestripe leave. I ran to the medicine cats den.  
"Oh hey Rubykit!" Silverkit exclaimed, "Jayfeather was just showing me some herbs, it's really cool!" Jayfeather narrowed his blind eyes on me.  
"What's the hurry?" He asked suspiciously  
"Dovewing...kits...coming... help...fast" I said between pants. Jayfeather jumped to his feet grabbed a stick nudged Silverkit.  
"You want to help?" He asked. She nodded eagerly as they both raced to the nursery leaving me to slowly follow behind. In front of the nursery Bumblestripe was prancing around in circles mumbling to him. I walked into the nursery to see the last kit arrive. I squirmed through and sat next to the others. There were four kits, three toms and one she-cat.

"There, it's over" Jayfeather said calmly, "You can come in Bumblestripe!" Bumblestripe raced in and stopped to look at the kits. He got all teary eyed at the sight of them.

"They're so beautiful." He said licking Dovewings head. Honestly I thought they looked like mice. I hope I didn't look like that when I was born. Everyone left to do their own things, but I stayed to hear their names. There was a brown tabby tom, a white tom, a black tom with a single white stripe, and a gray tabby she-cat.

"I think the white tom should be called Snowkit, and the gray tabby she-cat should be…" Dovewing started then hesitated for the name. Bumblestripe also didn't have an idea for the name.

"That's easy, Stormkit." I said hoping they would agree. They looked at the she cat then at each other. I thought the name suited her well. They both smiled

"Yes…Stormkit fits her perfectly." Bumblestripe announced, "now for the black tom…Lightningkit." Dovewing nodded and they look at the last kit. I looked at him. He was the biggest and he looked like neither his parents nor his siblings. His brown fur stood out from his siblings. I closed my eyes to find inspiration. I saw an eagle soaring.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, "Eaglekit!" Dovewing smiled, Bumblestripe nodded.

"Perfect" they both murmured.

I was so jealous! Today was Lilykit's and Seedkit's apprentice ceremony. I was only three moons so I have to wait three more moons before becoming one step closer to be the leader of the clan! Or at least the deputy.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the highledge for a Clan meeting." Bramblestar yowled. Everyone gathered around as Lilykit and Seedkit, all groomed walked to the front of the crowd.

"Lilykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lilypaw. Your mentor will be Toadstep. I hope Toadstep will pass down all he knows on to you." Bramblestar said. Lilypaw turned around to look at the ginger tom that approached them, all proud. Bramblestar continued, "Toadstep, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Cloudtail, and you have shown to be smart and kind. You will be the mentor of Lilypaw and I expect you to pass all you know to Lilypaw." Both apprentice and mentor touched noses and moved to the side of crowd.

"Seedkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Seedpaw. Your mentor will be Icecloud. I hope Icecloud will pass down all she knows on to you." Icecloud was surprised to be chosen and shuffled to the front of the crowd. "Icecloud, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Whitewing, and you have shown to be vigilant and courageous. You will be the mentor of Seedpaw and I expect you to pass all you know to Seedpaw." They touched noses and everyone started cheering. I joined in yowling

"Seedpaw, Lilypaw!" As the cheering died out they went off to do their first apprentice duty. I watched them go wishing it was me going to explore the forest. I went back into the nursery with Goldenkit as Silverkit bounced off to help Jayfeather. As I entered something landed on my back and pinned me on the ground. I turned to see Stormkit smiling proudly as if I was a piece of prey.

"Gotcha!" she said.

"Not yet!" I playfully hissed. I pushed her off of me with my hind paws and immediately got up on my paws. I dashed at her, and as she jumped. I moved to the side and shoved her and she lost balance and fell to the floor. I pinned her to the floor, smirking.

"You never learn…" I said shaking my head. Something pushed me into the air. I landed fairly on my paws and turned to face my opponent.

"Grrrr! I'm Tigerstar and I'm going to kill you Firestar!" I said sounding the most menacing I could be. Eaglekit lunged towards me and quick as a real eagle, I slithered on the ground and threw him into the air. I flipped around to see him lying motionless on the floor. I rushed towards him.

"Eaglekit? Are you okay? Tell me you're not dead? Did I hurt you?" I said panicked. His eyes shot open and he bowled me over pinning me down.

"Surprise is always a warrior's best technique." He said smugly.

"Oh no! Firestar beware! I will haunt you forever! No! I can't die! No! Not now! NO! Beware Firestar!" I yowled mimicking what I thought was Tigerstar. Then I faked dead. They all cheered for Eaglekit and I sat back up, cleaning my pelt. I eyed him "Next time I'm Firestar okay?" I growled.

"Of course Rubykit!" he said licking my head. I squirmed away, and playful batted him with my paw. "Oh! You want to be beaten again?" he said opening one of his eyes bigger that the other.

"No thank you!" I said as we settled next to each other, with Stormkit, Goldenkit, Lightningkit, and Snowkit. I leaned on Eaglekits shoulder and thought about who I wanted for a mentor. Cloudtail seemed nice, but Sandstorm was quite fast. Then I found it, Bumblestripe may be a little clumsy but I got to really know him and he is really talented. I would love him as a mentor. I drifted off to sleep imagining my apprenticeship.

I woke up as a paw started prodding my side. I opened my eyes and groaned as I saw Stormkit was looking and me expectantly. _What does she want now? _I thought.

"What?" I grumbled. She nudged and glared at me

"Be quiet!" she said. She got up and silently crept out of the nursery. She looked at me, realizing I didn't want to come. She pouted at me doing the cutest face she could. I sighed and got up to follow her.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"We're going exploring!" she whispered. My excitement bubbled at the sound of leaving camp. We went out by a small tunnel at the back of the warriors den. I grinned at the smell of the forest.

"Last one to the lake is a mouse-brain!" I yowled! I put in all my speed into my running. As soon as the lake was in sight I gave in one more push and I arrived at least a few seconds before Stormkit. She splashed me and I ran after her. This went on for a while. As we saw the sun had started rising we panicked. We had to hurry, this time, no race; it was fun and trouble or hurry and safety. The forest passed by me then a flash of orange ran next to me.

"Foxleap?" I asked as I stopped. Then I saw the beast clearly, "FOX! Stormkit run!" she ran and I tried to distract it. I slithered in the grass and jumped up in the air I landed on his back and I dug my claws deep in his back. The fox yowled and threw me off. I fell on the ground and stayed there for a moment. The fox lunged and bit my leg. Pain shot up my leg. I yowled and turned and scratched the fox's nose. He whimpered and started to run away. I slowly got up and licked my would for a bit. I limped towards the camp. Stormkit was waiting for me. She gasped at the sight of my bloody leg. She forced me to lie down and she went into the camp. She came back after a moment with, for a moment thought was Jayfeather. But as the two cats approached I realized it was Silverkit. She sniffed my leg, and then ran off into the forest. Stormkit settled by my side and slowly licked the blood of my leg. Silverkit arrived with some herbs, but I was already drifting off to sleep. Silverkit nudged me and shook her head. God. I wasn't allowed to sleep! I looked at a ladybug in the grass and didn't pay any attention to the two cats fussing over my leg. As soon as they were finished I slowly got up and limped into the camp with Silverkit and Stormkit each by my side. I slumped down with them and sighed.

"That was some exploration!" I said sleepily, they nodded. I laid my head in my paws and fell asleep.

I woke up it was sunhigh. The nursery was empty. I walked out to ask where the other kits were but the clan was gone. My leg wasn't hurting as much as before. Then a shimmering blue gray cat stepped out. A fire ginger cat followed her and lastly a ragged dark gray cat followed.

"Bluestar?" I asked, she nodded, "Firestar?" he nodded, "Yellowfang" she also nodded. Yellowfang stepped up and rubbed her nose against my leg. The skin covered the bite mark, and my leg looked good as new. "What are you all doing here?" I questioned them. I still couldn't believe Starclan was visiting me in my dreams!

"_You are vital to the clan, you have a special destiny."_ Bluestar meowed.

"_The ruby will shine but not alone," _Firestar said as his eyes started to glimmer.

"_The lion, the dove, and the jay will help," _Bluestar continued.

"_Until the grass turns red." _Yellowfang finished. Then they all started to fade.

"What? I don't understand! What do I have to do?" I yowled as the last piece of their pelt dissolved into the air.

"I…I don't understand." I mumbled, staring at the ground.

"Neither do I…" a trembling voice said behind me. Jayfeather stood behind me. Confusion swirled in his eyes. "It's time to wake up Rubykit." Then the whole camp was gone. I was just in pure black. I opened my eyes to see the whole nursery crowed around me. I quickly got up and gave myself a few licks.

"You were yelling in your sleep." Eaglekit pointed out. I must have yelled out the last sentences in the real world! I looked down at my paws.

"Bad dream I guess…" I mumbled. He shrugged and everyone spread out to their own corner. Silverkit narrowed her eyes at me, shrugged, and trotted away, probably to Jayfeather. I looked over at my leg. It was completely healed! I heard a giant thud, and then Jayfeather ran into the nursery, almost out of breath.

"Rubykit, I need to see you now." He said. I had no idea why but I still followed him to the medicine den. He turned to look at me.

"That dream… the only reason Starclan came to you was to give a prophecy, a prophecy about the three, and you." Jayfeather said, "I need to call the others."

He went out for a moment. I looked around the den. I don't see what Silverkit thought was so cool about being a medicine cat. Sure you saved lives but all the responsibilities… I wouldn't be able to handle it. Jayfeather came back with Lionblaze and Dovewing.

"Look, you know about our powers right." Dovewing asked. I nodded, who didn't? They did after all have the power of the stars in their paws.

"Somehow you will join that prophecy. In your dream Firestar wasn't as complete as the others. It must be because part of him is still on the earth." Jayfeather contested.

"You must somehow join in, like a fifth cat…" Lionblaze said under his breath. I looked at each of them; they seemed to be pleading me to help them.

"I'll help you, but do I tell anyone?" I asked.

"NO!" They all yelled, "This information is too vague, no one should know until we are extremely sure of it." Jayfeather whispered.

I was so bored. I reached my fifth moon. Well actually my fifth and a half. I have nothing to do. Silverkit is always with Jayfeather, The toms are all so immature, and Stormkit has no good ideas, like me. We sat next to each other sharing a delicious thrush, when a limping Lilypaw and Foxleap walking into the clearing. We both went to them.

"What happened? Was it Shadowclan? Was it a badger?" Everyone bombarded them with questions, they just shook their heads.

"Fox." Toadstep plainly said before bringing Lilypaw to the medicine cats den. I exchange a worried look with Stormkit. Two moons ago we encountered the fox, probably the same one. We escaped unseen, but we thought it had run away. I sighed. Why was life so boring? I wish my apprentice ceremony was today, not in 6 sunrises. I wish time would just speed up.

Finally! Today was my apprentice ceremony. I'm so excited! I groomed my pelt so well it shone like I was a Starclan cat.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the highledge for a Clan meeting." Bramblestar yowled. I stepped up to the front of the crowd with my friends and siblings. Lionblaze and Cinderheart looked proudly towards us. I smiled, and then turned to look at Bramble star. "Goldenkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Goldenpaw. Your mentor will be Brackenfur. I hope Brackenfur will pass down all he knows to you." Bramblestar said, "Brackenfur, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Graystripe, and you have shown yourself to be courageous and determined. You will be the mentor of Goldenpaw, and I expect you to pass down all you know to Goldenpaw." They both touched noses and moved to the side.

"Rubykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rubypaw. Your mentor will be Bumblestripe. I hope Bumblestripe will pass down all he knows to you." Bramblestar said passing on to me, "Bumblestripe, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Mousewhisker, and you have shown yourself to be kind and dependable. You will be the mentor of Rubypaw, and I expect you to pass down all you know to Rubypaw." Bramblestar finished. I trotted towards Bumblestripe and lifted my nose to meet his. We let them touch for a few seconds then moved to the side of the crowd where Goldenpaw was.

"Stormkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Stormpaw. Your mentor will be Sorreltail. I hope Sorreltail will pass down all he knows to you." Bramblestar started again, "Sorreltail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Sandstorm, and you have shown yourself to be courageous and clever. You will be the mentor of Stormpaw, and I expect you to pass down all you know to Stormpaw." Bramblestar finished, they touched noses and joined us. He finished the ceremony for Snowpaw, Eaglepaw, and Lightningpaw. Then the time for Silverkit came. Jayfeather came forward.

"Cats of Thunderclan, as you know, I will not be around forever. So it's time I took and apprentice. I have chosen a cat that has shown compassion and determination. Your next medicine cat will be Silverpaw." Jayfeather said. Bramblestar looked over at Silverpaw.

"Silverpaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Jayfeather?" He asked

"I do" Silverpaw replied proudly.

"Then at the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonpool to be accepted by Starclan before the other medicine cats." Jayfeather said smiling slightly.

"The good wishes of Thunderclan will go with you." Bramblestar said happily. The whole clan started cheering

"Goldenpaw, Rubypaw, Stormpaw, Snowpaw, Eaglepaw, Lightningpaw, Silverpaw!" We all grinned happily at the clan. I was so happy to finally be useful to the clan in some way. I turned to Bumblestripe.

"So! Are we going to explore the territory? Are we going to train? Are we going…?" I started until he cut me off and glared at me.

"If you continue like that, you're going to be searching the elders for ticks!" He growled, then his eyes lightened up, "We'll go explore the territory, but I'm pretty sure you and Stormpaw know it quite well" he said narrowing his eyes. We exchanged a glace of pure fear. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't tell Bramblestar". We decided to go explore the territory with Eaglepaw, and Stormpaw, and with our mentors Bumblestripe, Sorreltail, and Brightheart. Eaglepaw was Brighthearts first apprentice so she was bubbling with excitement.

"I'm so happy I got Brightheart," Eaglepaw rambled, "that way I'll learn cool moves that she only knows, and she'll teach me awesome new tricks! And…" he went on for hours until the mentors glared at him. He immediately shut his blabbermouth._ Eaglepaw is nice and cute, but once he talks about something he never stops! _I thought, _wait… Did I just think Eaglepaw was cute? _I turned to look at Eaglepaw, then saw his amber eyes looking straight at me. I quickly looked at the ground. I felt my face growing hot. I shook my head I looked over at the mentors. They stopped in front of a river. I opened my jaw to smell the air. I had smelt this smell before, and trust me I did not like it.

"This is the Windclan border," Bumblestripe said.

"Windclan like the open space, and they are quite fast." Sorreltail continued.

"Their main preys are rabbits, since they've got the speed to catch them." Brightheart said, looking over at the border.

"All I know is that they stink!" Stormpaw whispered. Both Eaglepaw and I snorted. I looked across the border to see a patrol of cats racing towards us.

"Hey, aren't those Windclan cats?" I asked. Bumblestripe nodded. They stood their ground as the cats approached. The first cat, a gray tom, which really looked like Jayfeather, stopped at the sight of us.

"Hello Crowfeather, Heathertail…" Bumblestripe said then stopped at the third cat, a small black she-cat.

"This is Windpaw, my first apprentice." Heathertail exclaimed.

"And these young cats are…" Crowfeather said pointing at us.

"This is Rubypaw, my apprentice, and Lionblaze's daughter." Bumblestripe said putting emphasis on the daughter part. _I wonder why…_ I thought then I remembered that Crowfeather was Lionblaze's father. So in other words, He's my grandfather!

"And this is Stormpaw and Eaglepaw, my kits." Bumblestripe said proudly. Stormpaw rolled her eyes, but Eaglepaw stood proudly as if it was an accomplishment. _Toms… _I said looking to the sky.

"Oh well, I hate to say this is goodbye" Sorreltail said, narrowing her eyes at the Windclan cats. Crowfeather dipped his head, and the group of cats headed upstream in their territory. Bumblestripe stretched his back, and walked towards the forest. The other mentors followed him, with us trailing behind. We walked deeper into the forest until Bumblestripe raised his tail to stop us.

"Do you smell that?" Sorreltail whispered. I opened my jaws only to smell a very familiar smell. _Mouse _a voice inside my head told me.

"Mouse?" I asked hesitantly. Bumblestripe nodded.

"Why don't you try and get it?" he told me. My eyes widened, but I shook my stress away and nodded. I slowly got down on my hunters crouch. _Raise your tail a little higher; the mouse will hear you before it see's you. _The same voice told me. I did what it said and raised my tail a little. _Now step a little lighter on your paws._ It continued, I stepped a little lighter on my paws, and a few tail lengths before the mouse the voice yelled: _Jump! _I jumped and landed straight on it. I killed it in one stoke and brought it back towards the mentors. The five cats were looking open jawed at me. _Good job, _the voice told me. I thanked it and looked at the others,

"So, are we going to stay here admiring my awesome skills or explore the territory?" I teased. Bumblestripe shook his head and looked at my mouse,

"A fat mouse, it sure will feed the clan!" He exclaimed. As the mentors padded away I overheard them talking. Talking about me. I strained my ears to listen. I only heard that I had some skills! I proudly marched on, towards the Shadowclan border.

We were already on our way back to the camp; I had caught my mouse, a vole, and a robin! Stormpaw and Eaglepaw both caught a vole, and then mentors each caught about two or three pieces of prey. We all passed through the tunnel and padded into the clearing. I dropped my robin and vole, and took my mouse to Purdy. I walked into the elders den and Purdy looked up at me.

"Did you catch that?!" He exclaimed looking at my fat mouse. I nodded proudly and put it down next to him. He took a bite and smiled at me. I grinned back at him and walked out to the clearing. The sun was slowly setting and the dirt walls slowly turned from orange a brown. Eaglepaw beckoned me over; he was sitting with all the other apprentices, and Silverpaw. I took a thrush and sat next to them.

"So Silverpaw," I asked, "How was your first day of being a medicine cat apprentice?" She turned to me,

"Great! I learned even more about herbs! I'm going to the Moonpool tonight!" She said beaming, and then narrowed her eyes playfully, "But I heard that you've got some hunting skills…" Eaglepaw and Stormpaw nodded,

"You should have seen her! She looked like she knew how to hunt at birth!" Stormpaw exclaimed. I gave my pelt a few licks. Snowpaw had his eyes open in wonder.

"You have to teach me!" He said! Jayfeather padded up towards us, said a few words to Silverpaw and turned back to the medicine den. She turned to us apologetically,

"We have to go now, if we want to arrive at the Moonpool at midnight." She said while getting up, she trotted away towards Jayfeather who was waiting for her at the entrance of the camp. As she started entering the tunnel I yelled,

"Tell me how it is!" She turned to me and nodded, winked and ran after Jayfeather. I yawned and looked at Bumblestripe, asking him telepathically if I could go sleep. He nodded; I smiled and padded towards the apprentice den. Eaglepaw dragged himself to the den and we both settled on our nests. I slowly fell asleep, I closed my eyes and I saw green eyes staring at me. _You did well… _the voice told me, the eyes looked at me lovingly, and I slowly fell into my dream.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in Windclan territory! I saw Silverpaw and Jayfeather walking towards me. I trotted towards them, but they just walked pass me, Jayfeather stopped and looked straight at me with his blind eyes. He shook his head and walked on. _They can't see you, _the voice told me. I shrugged and decided to follow them. AS we approached the Moonpool, three cats were already waiting for us. A small tabby tom spoke

"What took you so long?" He asked,

"More importantly, who's this young cat," A gray tom asked. The gray tabby she-cat rolled her eyes.

"Yes I wonder, she possibly couldn't be his apprentice, Kestrelflight." She said ironically. Jayfeather snorted.

"Willowshine," he said nodding towards the gray tabby, "Kestrelflight," The gray tom was still looking at his paws in embarrassment, "Littlecloud" He said turning towards to the small tom, who had his eyes so narrowed they were only slits, he shook his head and looked at Jayfeather, "This is Silverpaw, my apprentice." Silverpaw grinned and went to touch noses with the other medicine cats. They slowly walked away. I trotted after them, and saw Littlecloud looking straight at me. He turned to Jayfeather

"Something is watching us, I can feel it." He muttered, Jayfeather nodded

"Me too, and I can feel it's not a Starclan cat…" He said shaking his head. _They may not see you but they do sense your presence. _

"Why can't they sense you?" I asked it. _I may be a Starclan cat but right now I'm a part of you, so technically I am you. Oh and by the way, Eaglepaw seems to pay some interest in you. _I knew my face must have become extremely red. The voice snickered and became quiet. I shook my head, and ran towards the Moonpool, no way was I going to miss my sisters ceremony. But then something stopped me, like an invisible force. I saw the same green eyes staring at me. The voice growled. _As much as you want to see this I must stop you._

"Why?" I whined. _This is medicine cat stuff. A warrior like you should not know about things that happen at the Moonpool, unless you become a leader._ I glared at the empty space that was holding me back. I slowly walked away from the Moonpool, taking one last look at my sister's ceremony.

I woke up, the sun was almost up. I saw Silverpaw and Jayfeather walking through the bramble tunnel. He nudged her towards the den and turned and walked towards me. I stood up and slowly crept out of the den. He narrowed his eyes.

"It was you right? You were the one at the Moonpool." He whispered, careful not to wake anyone. _Uh oh! You're caught! _Said the voice, failing at sounding worried. I shook my head.

"How did you know?" I asked. He looked at me

"You're special." He said before walking away. I groaned and slumped down on the dirt. _Disappointed! _The voice said surprised, _any other cat would give a paw to have a special destiny! _

"But I don't want to be different…" I murmured, "I just want to be the best warrior I can be!" I could feel The Voice shaking his head. _She cats…_ he whispered. I mentally tried to slap him, but he was untouchable. I took one last look at Jayfeather, who had his blind gaze locked on me. Squirrelflight slowly stretched out into the light from the rising sun. I trotted over to her.

"Can I go on an early hunt?" I asked her. She looked over her shoulder to look for a warrior to go with me. We saw Dustpelt walking out of the warriors den stretching his broad shoulders.

"Hey Dustpelt! Do you mind taking Rubypaw on a hunting patrol?" Squirrelflight called over to the dark brown tom. He thought for a while then nodded

"Why not." he answered. I smiled and bounded towards him. He smiled softly but he turned away and I saw his smile leave his face. I looked down at my paws, wondering if he disliked me. _Don't worry he's been depressed every since Ferncloud died. _The Voice said his voice full of pity. Ferncloud? Who was that? _His mate… she died in the final battle. _Oh.

"I should probably try to cheer him up…" I murmured. I felt The Voice nod. _That would be a good idea _he said. Dustpelt turned over and looked at me and flicked his tail towards a mouse that was crunching on a few seeds. I lifted my head to sense the wind. _Your down-wind genius! _The voice said as if I was a kit. I growled and got straight into my hunters crouch. _Watch out! There's a twig don't step on it! _The Voice warned. I nodded and stepped over the twig. The mouse was a fox-length away. I leaped into the air. I landed squarely on the mouse. It squirmed in my paws. I bit down on its spinal cord. I had a shock, and then lay unmovable on the floor. I dug the floor and buried the mouse. I turned to see Dustpelt looking at me wide-eyed.

"H-h-o-how did you do that?" He exclaimed. _Me, of course, _The Voice said smugly. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Dustpelt

"Instinct, I guess…" I mumbled. He smiled and nudged my side.

"Bumblestripe is lucky to have you as an apprentice." He said. I beamed, and we both walked away to catch more prey.

Dustpelt and I walked into the camp with six pieces of prey. Squirrelflight was talking with Bumblestripe.

"Ah you guys are-" She stopped as she saw all our prey "Wow! That will definitely feed the clan!" She exclaimed. I beamed proudly. I heard The Voice purring next to me. Bumblestripe smiled proudly and came to help us carry our prey. We added it to the currently empty fresh kill pile. Bumblestripe nudged me.

"Rest for a little while, and then we'll go do some battle training." He said. I nodded and slumped myself on a little patch of sun. I closed my eyes and let my imagination wander. When I opened my eyes, I saw green eyes looking at me, and a soft outline of a cat's body. The cat was quite slim, and had broad shoulders.

"The Voice?" I asked. He smiled and nodded.

"You can actually see me in your dreams. And just call me…Voi." He said, or should I say, Voi said. I smiled, happy to have found an agreement.

"Where are we Voi?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow.

"Starclan dummy!" he teased. I nudged him and we trotted over to cats who were sharing some prey.

"Hello!" I said. They looked at me, gasped, and ran away.

"I didn't realize you were that scary!" Voi whispered. I glared at him. Then my vision started to blur. _It's time to go _Voi said. Ugh right at the moment where I didn't understand anything. The kind green eyes blurred away.

I actually opened my eyes to see Eaglepaw prodding my side.

"Hey lazy paws! Time for battle training!" he said. I groaned and got up on my paws.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked him.

"It's almost sundown." He answered. I gasped I had slept for half the day! _No wonder you're a lazy paws! _Voi said snickering. Shut up Voi I thought. _She cats… _I heard him say before being quiet. I trotted with Eaglepaw to Bumblestripe and Brightheart. Bumblestripe smiled and we padded off to the training hollow.

At the training hollow I sat next to Eaglepaw as the mentors discussed something we, apprentices weren't allowed to hear. I felt Eaglepaw nudge me with his paw.

"Could you help me with my hunters crouch?" He asked. I didn't hesitate to nod. He got in it and stalked an imaginary piece of prey. _His tail is too low and his ears are too high. _Voi said like a pro. I rolled my eyes and turned to Eaglepaw.

"Your tail is too low, it would brush the leaves and the prey would run away. And your ears are too high, the prey would see them." I told him.

"She's right!" Brightheart said, as the mentors strode towards us. Eaglepaw tried what we told him. _Not bad, for an amateur. _Voi said smugly. Hey, mind my business, not his! I felt his head shake, and he turned around and faded away from my head.

"Perfect!" I said. He turned his tabby head towards us and beamed. I smiled back, and then turned towards the mentors.

"We're going to do a little battle training." Bumblestripe said switching his focus point regularly on Eaglepaw and me. "Rubypaw, come at me." He said flexing his legs. Then it went black. I saw Voi showing me different moves to use. I saw Bumblestripe in the dark. I lunged towards him. It came all like a reflex. I jumped in the air, twisting around and landing behind Bumblestripe. I swiped my paw, and tripped him. He landed on the sand. I pinned him on the ground. My claws hadn't come out yet. As they slowly slithered out of my paws, something yelled. _Stop! _I snapped out of my battle mood. I shook my head and got off of Bumblestripe. He got up and everyone looked at me with wide yes.

"That was amazing!" Bumblestripe exclaimed, "All you need to do now is control our claws! I really thought you were going to kill me!" I licked my chest a few times. I watched attentively as they taught me moves I didn't know, but weirdly felt familiar with.

After a while of battle training, we left to the camp again. I had accidently scratched Bumblestripes nose but he said it didn't hurt. I don't believe him. Well Voi surely helped during this training! He showed me tons of new moves that apparently Bumblestripe learnt in the middle of his apprenticeship. I sat down and rested my head on my paws. I saw a big fat vole be dropped in front of me. I looked up to see Eaglepaw looking at me expectantly.

"Do you mind Rubystar?" He teased. I smiled and shook my head. He settled down and we shared the delicious thrush. As he settled by me, a pain soared in my leg. I tried to howl but everything went black, and this time Starclan didn't come. I looked up at Voi who looked equally worried. But I noticed something. Voi looked a little more like a cat then just a simple outline. His fur, which was a transparent ginger for the moment, was starting to appear.

"What's happening Voi?" I asked him.

"I sincerely have no idea…" he said shaking his head. Then thunder crashed. Lightning stuck. I huddled close to the ground covering my ears. Voi stood next to me, as if he was protecting me. Then a ruby came out of nowhere. Thunder followed it, but it seemed so safe near the bright shining jewel. _You have a special destiny, Rubypaw. And Voi will remember his past life slowly, but you must have achieved your quest by then… _Another voice said, roaming around the dark space. Then it actually went completely black.

I groaned. I tried to roll over but a pain in my hind leg soared the moment I tried to move it. My tail softly brushed it, and pain flew through my body like an electric shock. My eyes flew open and I yowled in pain. Silverpaw rushed by my side and gave me comforting licks.

"It'll be okay Rubypaw, just relax and let Jayfeather do his magic." She soothed. Jayfeather walked towards us with herbs in his mouth. He avoided my tail and settled next to Silverpaw.

"I don't know what happened…" He started slowly applying a weird gooey thing on my leg, "You seemed to have been bitten by something, and it's not a cat." He said. He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes and narrowed them. "It seems to me like a fox bite." I looked down at my paws and bit my lip. _Good job Rubypaw… _I rolled my eyes and looked at Jayfeather.

"Long story short, I got bit by a fox." I mumbled. Jayfeather looked at me, shrugged and paid more attention to my leg.

"The scab will be there for at least a moon." He said examining my wound.

"What?" I exclaimed, "No! That's not good! The gathering is only in a few sunrises! I have to go!" I started fretting around, I tried to get on my paws several times but Jayfeather pinned me down.

"You'll be able to go to the gathering as long as you don't get hurt again." He said obviously getting annoyed at me. He walked away, tail swishing. I sighed and lay my head on my paws. This was going to be long. _Trust me; I'm not overjoyed either _Voi said, obviously hating what Jayfeather just had told me. My eyes slowly closed but I didn't sleep. I could feel Silverpaw licking away on my leg. Something nudged me. I opened my eyes to see a few seeds. I slowly ate them up. I shuddered. They didn't taste good. With the help of those weird seeds I slowly drifted off to sleep. No nightmares this time.

I woke up to the sound a cat fretting around. I opened one eye to see Bumblestripe running in circles, as if he wanted to catch his tail. I groaned and got up to my paws. I licked my leg. It was already started to slowly heal. The cobwebs had hardened on my wound, preventing any dangerous things to enter my skin. I limped towards Jayfeather and Bumblestripe.

"I'm telling you she's just fine!" Jayfeather yelled, obviously annoyed at Bumblestripe, "Look can't you she's not on the brink of death!" Bumblestripe looked at me and nuzzled me like crazy. His purr was the only sound to my ears. I stepped away and shook my head.

"I'm hungry," I mumbled, "Can I go get a piece of prey?" I asked Jayfeather.

"No need, look whose coming" Eaglepaw was trotting over with a fat hare. I licked my lips and limped over to him. He put it down and we settled side by side, fur brushing. He stated to clean my fur while I was eating.

"I'm so glad you aren't hurt, I was so worried!" He purred. I turned to look at him

"As worried as Bumblestripe?" I said teasingly. He nudged me.

"No! Everyone was disappointed of losing our new great hunter, but he was just going berserk…" He laughed. Once we finished our hare, the sun was slowly setting. We shared tongues, and then decided to get some sleep. I leaned on his shoulder as we walked towards the apprentice den.

"Rubypaw! You aren't sleeping there just yet!" Silverpaw called from the medicine den. I cursed her under my breath and looked up at Eaglepaw apologetically. He shrugged and trotted over into the den. I slowly dragged myself to the medicine den, my leg was slowly healing, and I was able to put a little weight on it. I settled in my nest and played with a few twigs sticking out. Silver settled next to me and gave my head a comforting lick.

"Go to sleep, the gathering is in a two sunrises, and I know you don't want to miss it!" she said smiling softly. At the sound of the gathering my excitement bubbled up. _Hey! I don't want to miss my first gathering either! _Voi growled. I rolled my eyes. I lay my head on my paws and slowly fell to a deep sleep.

I woke up, it was dark. I yawned and got to my paws. I slowly padded out of medicine den, making sure I didn't wake up either of the cats. I settled in a patch of moonlight and looked up at it. It was almost full; you could only see a single line of dark moon. I started cleaning myself when a cat approached behind me. I whipped my head to see Bramblestar padding towards me. He sat next to me and looked up. I followed his gaze to the moon.

"It sure is beautiful…" He said so softly I could barely hear him. I nodded and looked at Bramblestar. His tabby coat gleamed in the moonlight. His amber eyes reflected the almost full moon. He turned to me and smiled.

"You should get some rest; after all you don't want to miss your first gathering!" He said. I got to my paws and started to rush to the medicine den. I turned back right at the entrance and gave Bramblestar my biggest grin. He was letting me go to the gathering! He chuckled and padded over to the highledge and jumped up to his den. I trotted into the medicine den, only to see Silverpaw waking up. I quickly settled next to her. She looked at my sleepily, groaned, and then fell back asleep. I smiled. Her silver coat gleamed even in the darkness of medicine den. I lay my head on my paws and looked at the clearing through the entrance. My eyes slowly closed themselves. I smiled in the darkness of my dreams. I could be anywhere I wanted. Voi stood next to me. We raced into the darkness. His flaming red pelt was dancing in the darkness. His white paws barely touching the ground. I raced after him. I felt like I had the speed of Starclan. That's all I remember from my dream.

I jerked awake from my dream, gasping for air. I took deep breaths and tried to calm my heart down. My fur was wet with sweat and my heart was beating extremely fast. I slowly dragged myself out into the scorching sun. Every cat in my way looked at me suspiciously. Stormpaw trotted over towards me. She looked at me from claw to ear.

"You sure are sweaty…" she snickered. I glared at her.

"Let's just go to the lake, I need some fresh air" I said, trotting towards the entrance without her approval. I heard her sigh and she trotted behind me. As we exited the camp she turned to me,

"Hey… um I need to go do something, go ahead without me." She said awkwardly. I shrugged and she turned and ran away from the dirt place. I narrowed my eyes. I crept up a tree and silently followed her in the trees. _Why is she going towards the two-leg place? _Voi asked. I shrugged again. She slowed to a small trot as she approached the wall. I gasped as she jumped on the wall. _You don't think she's been getting food from the two legs, do you? _Voi said, voice trembling.

"I sure hope not." I whispered, I could feel tears threatening to fall but I shook them away and paid attention to Stormpaw. A slick, beautiful white spotted tom came out of the two-leg nest and stretched. He looked at Stormpaw and something lit up in his eyes. He raced towards the wall and jumped up on it. Both of them licked each other. They both jumped down on the forest floor. Their tails slowly intertwined, and they walked off following the wall. My jaw dropped down without me noticing it. _Well… at least she's not… Well… Actually, I think this is worse. _Voi said. I nodded in agreement. I could feel anger boiling up on me. I jumped down from the tree, not afraid of Stormpaw hearing me. But she didn't care; she was too busy with her… _kittypet_! I hissed at them, my back arching. I must have looked like a porcupine, but I didn't care.

"How dare you Stormpaw!" I yowled. Both cats jumped to their feet, and flipped around to look at me with eyes full of fear. The kittypet leaned over towards Stormpaw. Stormpaw nodded and looked embarrassed. I didn't care.

"Do you even know what you're doing? This is a _kittypet_! A stupid cat that can't defend himself!" I growled the kittypet looked taken aback; I didn't care "He eats rabbit pellets! Do you realize what you're doing, choosing him? Are you completely mouse brained?" I couldn't continue, the kittypet had lunged on me, claws outstretched. I was shocked by the impact, as he pinned me to the ground. Anger filled my mind, I didn't even think. Voi ran besides me as my claws shot out and I poured all my anger on this stupid kittypet.

"Frost! Rubypaw! Stop, please!" Stormpaw pleaded. I backed away from the kittypet. His white fur stained with blood. Stormpaw raced over to him and licked his wounds. I snarled. I had a gash on my shoulder, and I licked the blood away. Then I turned to Stormpaw who was walking towards me. She was avoiding all eye contact with me. I looked at her confused.

"Why him, when you could choose any Thunderclan cat?" I asked my voice all of a sudden low. She raised her head and looked at me for the first time.

"Because I love him."


	2. Chapter 2: Battle

**A lot of people (2 people) have been telling me that warriors don't know what rubies are, and yeah I know that but I just like that name… And also, look at Scourges sister is called Ruby! So I hope it doesn't bother you too much because I want to keep that name. Any who, thank you to the three people who reviewed, and sorry this chapter won't be as long as the first one… Because I was planning on writing it all in one, until I realized you couldn't separate it… So, I hope you enjoy the chapter! – Oh and I sadly don't own warriors, Erin Hunter does.**

I flinched at her words. She was an apprentice! What if she had kits? I stared at her, trying to find joke in her eyes, but she was dead serious.

"Well I'm going to go back home." Frost said, the blood finally cleared of his pelt.

"What? No!" Stormpaw exclaimed trotting towards him. She stopped next him. She nestled his fur, and he licked her ears lovingly. I felt a pang of jealously. I shook my head. I got up and left Stormpaw with her kittypet. _Hey, you know you don't have to be jealous. _Voi said caringly.

"Yeah, of course I don't." I said sarcastically. _You know, she was the one to be jealous. _I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?" I said. _She saw the relationship you had with Eaglepaw, and she was jealous because you spent less time with her. _Realization dawned in my head. I hadn't spent much time with her in the last few sunrises. I flinched. Then I sighed and dipped my feet in the lake. The sun was high up in the sky, it was the warmest time of the day. I took a few sips of water, when I heard splashes behind me. I turned around to look at Stormpaw's slick grey pelt coming closer. She looked at me.

"Don't tell anyone, please." She said. I turned around and lifted my head high.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm sure Sorreltail will be over-excited when she hears her apprentice already has a mate, and he's a kittypet." I said. Stormpaw flinched.

"Look I know you don't want me to be with a kittypet, or even have a mate, but I can't help feeling a little lonely. You're always with Eaglepaw!" She said. It was my turn to flinch.

"Eaglepaw is my best friend other than you, if I want to be his mate, it'll be when I'm a warrior!" I said, I couldn't believe she actually thought that Eaglepaw was my mate! Dear Starclan, we were apprentices! "But anyways, how did you meet the kittypet?" I asked. She glared at me.

"His name is Frost. And well it was the day you were in the medicine den, I was hunting, and well I saw him and my reaction was to chase him away. So I did. I ran after him, but he fought back. We had equal strength so we stopped fighting. Then we decided to meet again, and then it became a thing." She said. I looked at her. Then I don't know why I did it, but I stepped up and licked her forehead.

"I won't tell anyone, and I'll cover for you too." I soothed. She looked at me with pure surprise.

"Thank you!" She cried. I shrugged. And with that we left off to camp, as if nothing had happened.

As we approached the camp entrance, I turned and gave Stormpaw a quick smile. She weakly smiled back. As I entered the camp, Silverpaw was the first one to yell at me.

"Look at yourself! You were healing, and now you go and get yourself stuck in a battle with a stupid cat! Since you're in such a poor condition I'm sure you won't be allowed to go to the gathering." Silverpaw yelled, then stuck her head high in the air and walked away. I just looked at her go and shook my head. _She cats… _Voi murmured. I mentally slapped him. He yowled then became quiet again. I walked over to Jayfeather who was sorting herbs.

"Hey Jayfeather… can I have some herbs for my cuts?" I asked. He looked up at me and smiled. Jayfeather smiled. Smiled. I shook my surprise away. He picked up some random herb and treated me.

"They don't look bad, so you'll be able to go to the gathering tonight." He said after finishing the last cut. I smiled, thanked him and walked towards Lightningpaw and Snowpaw, who were eating what looked like a delicious mouse. I stopped next to them and they looked up at me.

"Do you mind if I join?" I asked. Both shook their heads. I took a small robin and sat next to them, "SO what have I been missing?" I asked taking a bite in my robin. They looked at each other and thought for a moment.

"Not much actually, it's pretty boring these days." Lightningpaw said. I sighed. If they thought training was boring, let's see them stay in the camp for a day. I finished my robin, got up, and trotted towards Squirrelflight.

"Hey Squirrelflight, do you know who's going to the gathering?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled.

"All I know is that you better be going or we'll be hearing wailing until the next moon!" She exclaimed. I laughed a little at her 'joke', then trotted back to Lightningpaw, Snowpaw, and Stormpaw who had just joined the conversation. I settled down next to them, and tried to pay a little attention to their conversation about if fish would taste more like mouse or vole, but I kept on looking to see if it was soon sunset. The sun was low, but I would still need to wait a moment before we left for the gathering.

"Rubypaw!" Someone yelled my name. I flashed out of my daydream.

"Huh? What?" I said, everyone looking at me.

"We asked you if you thought fish would taste like vole or mouse." Snowpaw said slowly as if I was a kit. I glared at him. I knew what he had said!

"A fish will taste like a fish" I said, turning my head from them. God those apprentices could have such boring discussions. I looked over at the highledge, waiting for Bramblestar to come out and lead us to my very first gathering. After so many idiotic questions like: would you rather go live in Shadowclan or not eat for three sunrises? Or, would you rather mate with a kittypet or a mouse? I saw Stormpaw go stiff at that question, and flashed a look of warning at me. Which I completely ignored like all their stupid questions. Finally Bramblestar came out and stretched his glossy brown tabby pelt. I got up and trotted towards him. He turned to me and smiled.

"Yes Rubypaw, you are going to the gathering." He said, laughing. I shrieked with joy. Seriously, I shrieked. And every cat was looking at me as if I was a lunatic. I jumped over to the other apprentices. They looked up at me with terrified eyes. I bet my grin reached my ears.

"I'm going to the gathering!" I said to them. They looked at each other then shook their head, "What?" I asked. They looked at me, and shook their head even more. I was taken aback. I thought they would be happy. I walked away, head high.

"Rubypaw, where are you going?" Squirrelflight yelled, I turned around, "If we want to get there in time we have to leave soon!" She said. I could feel my grin widening. I bounded towards them. Stormpaw, Goldenpaw, Silverpaw, and Eaglepaw were all waiting for me. Snowpaw, Lightningpaw, Lilypaw, Seedpaw, Cherrypaw, and Molepaw had to be left behind, or else there would be too many apprentices. Bumblestripe, Sorreltail, Brightheart, Foxleap, Icecloud, Dustpelt, Lionblaze, Squirrelflight, and Jayfeather were all waiting for Bramblestar's signal. Seeing I was ready, Bramblestar leaped off the highledge and dashed out of the camp. I walked out of the entrance, and with the other apprentices, we dashed alongside the warriors. I could feel Voi's fur brushing mine. My feet barely brushed the grass as we ran towards the Windclan territory.

When the stream came, the warriors leaped over it like it was nothing. At the speed I was going I thought I wouldn't even need to jump. Well I was wrong. I closed my eyes for a moment. Well that moment was the wrong one. Something tripped me and I fell face first into the freezing cold water of the stream. I tried to yell out but water was the only thing that came out, and in. I thrashed around, trying to find the way up. Something grabbed my scruff and dragged me to the open air. I opened my eyes to see Stormpaw snickering at me.

"How's life, _Rubyfish_." She said. Goldenpaw snorted. I glared at both of them. Silverpaw came dashing by my side and licked my fur to keep me warm. I slithered away from her.

"I'm fine, geez." I snarled. Surprise fluttered into her gaze, but then was quickly replaced by anger. She stuck her head up in the air and caught up with Jayfeather. Bumblestripe, who was the one who got me out of the water, looked worried.

"Are you sure you're fine?" He asked. I nodded and shook the water out of my pelt. I walked away from him, feeling so embarrassed. I was sure I looked like a mouse brained idiot then. Lionblaze padded towards me and gave me an encouraging smile. _Hey, come on Rubypaw, you aren't going to let this ruin your first gathering? _Voi asked. I shook my head.

"No it won't." I whispered. I looked up to Bramblestar and nodded. The warriors ran like the wind, and I followed them. And throughout the rest of the trip, I _didn't_ fall into another stream.

As we approached the island, I saw many cats were already there. I reeled back at a disgusting smell.

"Riverclan." Bumblestripe whispered. I tried to ignore the horrible smell, but it was hard. I stepped on to the log, and held on with my claws. No way I was falling into water, again. After finally passing through the log, ran onto the island. A huge tree was in the middle of a tiny clearing. Tons of cats were sharing tongues. As I looked at the beautiful view something intruded my daydream. "Hey Rubypaw, do you remember me?" A small voice said behind me. I whipped around to see the small Windclan apprentice we met on my first outing as an apprentice. "Hey Windpaw! How's life in Windclan?" I asked. "It's great, tons of stuff have been happening." She said. We settled down and started to share everything that had been happening between the time we met and this day. I looked up to see it was practically moon high. I nudged Windpaw and pointed at the leaders who were all sitting on the tree branches. We crept closer and looked up towards the leaders. "Let the gathering start." Onestar yowled. Every cat looked up at him with complete interest. "Windclan has prey running everywhere. Time is good and we have three new warriors Boulderpelt, Furzetail, and Whiskershadow," Everyone cheered for the three new warriors, Onestar raised his tail to silence them, "And we also have two new apprentices, Windpaw and Robinpaw." They were both cheered for; I nudged Windpaw as she looked at her paws in embarrassment. "That is all for Windclan." He stepped back and allowed Bramblestar to step forward. "Everything has been fine for Thunderclan, we have seven new apprentices, but not all present. Rubypaw, Stormpaw, Eaglepaw, Snowpaw, Lightningpaw, and the new medicine cat apprentice Silverpaw." Everyone cheered for us, and unlike Windpaw, I kept my head high and grinned proudly at everyone who was cheering out my name. "Other than that Thunderclan has been fine." Bramblestar concluded, allowing the next leader to speak. Mistystar stepped up to the edge of the branch. "Fish have been a bit rarer as leaf-bare approaches, but we are well fed by other prey." She pointed out, making sure no one thought Riverclan was weak. "But we have four new warriors, Hollowstream, Trouttail, Mossypelt, and Rushleap." Their names were called out by every cat including Windpaw and I. "We have two new apprentices, Oakpaw and Lakepaw." Like the others we cheered for them. It was kind of getting repetitive. "That's all for Riverclan." She stepped back and allowed Blackstar to step forward. The same thing happened with him, nothing important and there were no new warriors but three new apprentices, Sharppaw, Moonpaw, and Flashpaw. After the Leaders finished talking, Windclan and Thunderclan both walked together. An apprentice came towards us, he looked like he could fly, and I'm not kidding. He had perfect amber eyes, and had sleek brown fur. He smiled at me. "You must be Rubypaw" he said, "I'm Robinpaw." I stood there for a moment, until I realized he said something. I shook my head and smiled back. "Nice to meet you Robinpaw, I've heard a lot about you from Windpaw." I said. And I wasn't lying. She seriously talked about him, a lot. And I had to agree with her about his perfect amber eyes that shown like the moon. And his pelt that was so sleek that it shown almost as much as his eyes. Windpaw said she was so happy he was her best friend and brother. I could tell they were siblings. They were both thin, and they had the same perfect amber eyes, but Robinpaw's shown more. "Rubypaw. Rubypaw!" Someone yelled out my name. I snapped out of my daydream. "Are you okay? I called out your name like, ten times." Robinpaw said, looking at me quizzically, I flushed in embarrassment. "Were at the Windclan camp, so… See you again at another gathering?" He asked. I nodded. Squirrelflight called out my name from further towards the stream. "Bye Robinpaw, bye Windpaw!" I called out as I dashed towards Squirrelflight. I didn't hear an answer but I was sure they said good bye too. As we approached the stream I could feel all eyes on me. I was pretty sure they were waiting for me to fall into the stream again. No way that was happening again. As I got close I prepared myself to jump. As the ground fell before me I used all my force to jump in the air. I soared into the air and landed on the other side perfectly. I turned around to smirk at Stormpaw, but she was nowhere in sight. Then I saw her arrive drenched. I held back laughter but I couldn't help snorting. "I haven't seen Frost ever since the fight, can you cover for me?" She asked. I thought for a moment. I nodded; I'll just say she went to do some hunting. "Okay, but bring back some prey so it doesn't seem that suspicious." I whispered. She nodded and ran towards the two-leg nest. I ran the opposite way. Eaglepaw slowed down and ran besides me. "Where did she go?" He asked. I gulped. "H-hunting" I stammered. He frowned, and then shrugged. I raced forward trying to hide the fact that I was extremely worried someone would find out. As we arrived at the camp, Snowpaw and Lightningpaw both barreled me over. "How was the gathering? Was there a fight? Did you meet Riverclan cats? Do the Shadowclan cats stink as much as we heard?" They asked, but trust me those were only the beginning. I dragged my feet to the medicine cats den. But Jayfeather blocked me. "I think you can sleep in the apprentices den again." He said with a smile. I smiled back. "Thanks Jayfeather!" I yowled as I trotted towards the apprentice den. Eaglepaw welcomed me in. This would be the third night in the den. I walked over to my nest only to find it all cover with feathers and it looked comfortable. "We decided to do it as a welcome back message." Snowpaw said, almost acting embarrassed, "Do you like it?" He asked shyly. I grinned and nodded. I prodded the nest to make sure it wasn't a trick and they didn't put a twig in the nest. I circled the nest and settled down comfortably. I let my head rest on my paws and I drifted off to a deep sleep.

I woke up to the sound of a cat walking out of the den. I opened my eyes slowly. Stormpaw was sneaking out. I sighed. Couldn't she spend a moment without her kittypet? _Apparently no… _Voi said, almost as disappointed in Stormpaw as me. I shook my head and got up. Why not be useful while I'm awake. I stretched out into the rising sun. I had barely slept! I trotted towards the camp entrance, when someone called out my name. "Hey Rubypaw, Where do you think you're going?" Squirrelflight yowled from the top of the highledge. Bramblestar was next to her looking at me suspiciously. "I wanted to go hunting." I yelled back. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar exchange a suspicious look. Bramblestar shrugged and turned back to me. "Where did Stormpaw go? We saw her sneaking out this morning, and she came back late after the gathering yesterday." He asked. I stiffened. _Are you going to cover for her? I mean she is breaking the warrior code. _Voi said. I had to agree with him, but Stormpaw was my best friend and I wasn't going to betray her after promising to keep it a secret. "She must have gone hunting yesterday and now." I said. I know how weird it sounded, an apprentice wanting to go hunting non-stop. Squirrelflight narrowed her eyes at me. I gazed straight into hers, making sure she didn't think I was lying. And plus it was a half-lie; Stormpaw should bring back prey, if she keeps her promise. "You'll go on the dawn patrol, just wait for other warriors to wake up." Bramblestar said. He said something to Squirrelflight who rubbed her head against him, then jumped off the highledge and went towards the warrior den. I sat there in the middle of the clearing waiting for other warriors to wake up. "Good morning Rubypaw." Bumblestripe said, yawing as he approached me. Following him were Cherrypaw, her mentor Foxleap, Hazeltail, and Molepaw. Cherrypaw and Molepaw had been apprentices for a long time; if I were leader, I wouldn't hesitate making them warriors. Molepaw had become a muscular cat. His pelt rippled against his muscles as he stretched into the sunlight. Cherrypaw had become a young sleek she-cat. He gracefully walked towards me and smiled. I wanted to be exactly like her when I became a warrior. As Foxleap and Hazeltail finally woke up, Bumblestripe said a few words to Squirrelflight and walked towards the medicine den. I looked at her confused. "Bellyache." She said and then she went off to wake up more warriors. I shrugged at left the camp with the warriors and the other apprentices. As we started towards the Shadowclan border, I smelled something weird. I looked around to see that Hazeltail and Foxleap's fur was bristling. I looked up to the stream only to see that there were quite a lot of Shadowclan warriors on our territory! I spat at them as we advanced slowly, but they stayed put. A tall warrior looked at us. "This land belongs rightfully to Shadowclan, and we shall not leave until it is in our power." He yelled, I had no idea who they were but I lunged at the closest warrior to me. Thankfully, that wasn't only my reaction. Molepaw and Cherrypaw lunged together at a black warrior, who I didn't know as well. The warriors must have lunged at the other cats too because all of a sudden I heard a yell from a Shadowclan warrior. "Shadowclan, to me!" Right then, at least ten more cats raced out of the trees to attack us. My jaw dropped in surprise. Unfortunately my enemy took this chance to bowl me over. He tried to bite at my throat but I dodged him at each time. I tried to push him off but there was nothing that I could do, he was stronger. Right when I thought I was dead meat, Foxleap threw the warrior off of me and clawed his face. The Shadowclan cat whimpered and ran off to help his friends. Foxleap looked at me. "Rubypaw, they are too many, go as fast as you can to camp and get reinforcements." He said urgently. I nodded but then noticed a huge gash he had across his leg. He looked back at it. "It'll be fine, just run as fast as you can." He said, turning back to me. I nodded again and raced through the woodland towards camp. I seriously thought I was going to fly if I went any faster. As I approached camp entrance, I didn't care if Cloudtail was getting out of camp for a little hunt. I didn't care if Dustpelt was having a nice nap until I came and almost ran him over. I didn't care if I stepped on Daisy's perfectly good mouse. I didn't care about anything until I told Bramblestar about the battle. I gathered all my forces and leaped up on the highledge. I caught on with my front paws and pushed myself onto the flat surface. I ran into his den and by that time I was out of breath. Bramblestar got up immediately when he saw the blood all over my pelt. "Rubypaw, what's going on?" He said racing towards me. I tried to gather my breath but everything I said came in gasps. "Shadowclan… territory… battle… outnumbered… need help." I said, well that's all I could say. Thankfully Bramblestar understood. He dashed out into the open and yowled out names of warriors. I stepped out and looked at him. "Should I go too?" I asked, once I had retrieved my normal breathing. He looked at me from claw to ear. He hesitated then nodded. "Show them where to go, but try to not get hurt too badly." He said. I smiled and jumped off of the highledge. I looked back to see if the warriors were ready. They all smiled or nodded; I took that as if they were ready. I dashed out of the camp and raced towards the battle. From here we could hear the yowling from the cats tearing at each other. As the forest opened up to the battle I ran faster towards Hazeltail who was having trouble fighting off a warrior. I lunged at him claws outstretched and clawed the Shadowclan warrior's nose. He yowled and spat at me. His claws tried to rake me but Hazeltail bowled him over and pinned him down. I heard her hiss at him. "Get off our land." She whispered menacingly. The Shadowclan warrior thrashed out and scrambled back towards his camp. She looked at me and grinned. I smiled back and turned towards the core of the battle. There were no more Shadowclan warriors and the Thunderclan warriors stood proudly on our land. We didn't have too many wounds, except for Foxleap who was practically completely covered in blood. He leaned on Cloudtail's shoulder who had blood stains on his white pelt. I staggered towards the other warriors and took deep breaths. Thornclaw, who arrived with me, smiled weakly. "We have won another battle. This land is under Thunderclan power again." 


	3. Chapter 3: The change

**Vacation! Finally! I don't live in America or Europe so I bet half of you reading this aren't in vacation so anyways here's the story for whoever is reading… Which I hope is a lot of people… But it's probably like two people… Anyway! The story! Right- Concentrate!**

**Oh and I don't own Warriors, Erin Hunter does (sadly, because if I did Firestar and Hollyleaf would still be alive).**

Chapter 3

I licked the scars that had slowly healed from the battle a quarter-moon ago. Shadowclan had shown no sign of wanting the land again. Foxleap stayed in the medicine den for a while and had returned to the warriors den two sunrises ago. Cherrypaw and Molepaw – now Cherrytail and Molewhisker – had become warriors not long after the battle. I remember the night of the ceremony. During the vigil, Cherrypaw – no Cherrytail fretted around worrying about Foxleap who was under extreme care from Jayfeather and Silverpaw. Foxleap's wounds had healed after a few days but e had gotten fever, and along with him Bumblestripe had a big bellyache. A few cats coughed around the corners. Dustpelt replaced Bumblestripe as my mentor while Bumblestripe was sick. He was silent and strict, but a good mentor. Snowpaw and Stormpaw started coughing but Jayfeather said it was a mere cough; but as he left I heard him tell Silverpaw to make sure they got better or as he said: "Make sure their coughs get better, we don't want apprentices with green cough. That could lead to a sick clan…"

It was the sure sign that leaf bare was approaching. As each day passed, the fresh kill pile became smaller. I was exhausted, whenever I had free time I went hunting. Voi's sarcastic support did not help in anyway; when Stormpaw got better I had to cover for her while she visited the kittypet; the other apprentices still made their useless and boring jokes. In other words, I was bored o death.

I pawed my mouse; I could barely see any meat on its tiny bones. I bit into and forced myself to swallow. It tasted disgusting, but it was food and I shouldn't complain. I heard a great big squeal and turned around. I saw Squirrelflight trotting out of the medicine den looking all happy and joyful. According to me there was nothing joyful or happy going on, except in my dreams. I narrowed my eyes at her. She bounced towards me. I looked up at her happy face. I held myself back from hitting her. Why was she so happy? It was unfair.

"You'll never guess what Rubypaw!" She said, all giggly. I looked at her from ear to claw. She was looking a little more fat then all the other cats. I wondered if she was eating more that her share of prey. _No you mouse-brain, she's probably expecting kits! _Voi said. I felt my face grow warm. I looked up at her.

"Kits?" I asked. She nodded with a grin on her face, "Wow! That's great! Bramblestar must be so happy." At the moment I mentioned Bramblestar, she got all embarrassed.

"Umm… I haven't told him yet; do you mind not mentioning it? He's coming this way; he must have heard my squeal…" I nodded and swore not to speak. Bramblestar approached us and looked at Squirrelflight.

"Are you okay? I heard your – uh – scream from my den, is everything all right?" He asked his amber eyes full of concern. I bit my lip, preventing myself from screaming out the news. Squirrelflight grinned and nodded. She looked at him straight in his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm expecting your kits." She said, closing her eyes. She opened them only to see Bramblestar looking at her eyes wide open.

"Wow, wow, wow! What? Ki-ki-kits? Mine?" he said stunned. Squirrelflight nodded. I could see she was scared that he might be mad. I stood up and lay my tail on her shoulder in comfort. She looked at me with pure worry. I looked at her in the eye. It was going to be all right, I thought. Almost as if she could read my mind, she nodded. She looked back at Bramblestar.

"Are you happy?" She asked. He looked at her and started laughing.

"Of course I'm happy! I'm having kits with the most beautiful she-cat in the world. Who wouldn't be happy? I just need to think about the replacement deputy, but you need to go rest." He nudged her and purred. I was of course disgusted by his whole most beautiful she-cat in the world thingy but I couldn't help being happy for the two cats. I was sure they would be happy with their real kits, after the whole Jayfeather Lionblaze and Hollyleaf problems. Purdy had told me all about when I checked him for fleas (which by the way wasn't the most enjoyable task, my paws stank afterwards).

I left the happy couple and walked towards Stormpaw who had heard everything. She looked at me with a smile on her face. Why was everyone so happy? Sure I'm happy about the kits, but I could see that Stormpaw was happy about something else. I could feel my happiness be drained away and sucked into Stormpaw.

"What's up with you?" I asked dryly. She jumped up and down for a while and stood still to tell me what was making her glow so much.

"Frost agreed to try and join Thunderclan!" She whispered. I recoiled.

"What?" I screamed. Everyone turned to look at me. I gave my chest a few embarrassed licks and turned back to Stormpaw, "What? But he's a kittypet! Who knows if he'll end up like Firestar or not! He might just end up leaving!" I said, this time my voice low. She pouted.

"I thought you would be happy for me, happy for us! Now our love won't be against the warrior code!" She said still pouting. I flinched at the word love.

"How do you know if you'll still love him afterwards? What if your feelings change? Then him joining the clan would be useless! And plus he'll just be another mouth to feed!" I growled. Stormpaw looked at hurt. She shook her head.

"I thought you would understand." She whispered. Then she walked away to the apprentice den, tail drooping. _That was kind of mean. _Oh for goodness sake shut up Voi. I stormed out of the camp. My fur was bristling. I turned back to the camp; everyone was happy and joyful. And I didn't understand why. I growled and lunged into the forest. I ran as fast as I could, tears flying out of my eyes as I ran.

I tore the ground as I flew through the forest. I ran passed so much prey that could have fed the clan. My paws barely touched the ground as I streaked away from the camp. I stepped onto the clearing that was near the Windclan border? I caught my breath and looked up to see a bright red flaming cat. At first, I thought it was my reflection, but the cat had white paws and I didn't. His pelt shimmered as if silverpelt was on his fur. I narrowed my eyes.

"Are you from Starclan?" I asked. The cat laughed. It was an extremely familiar laugh that I heard before.

"Come on Rubypaw! Do you really not recognize me?" The shinny cat questioned. I shook my head. He seemed very familiar, had I seen him before? "It's me, Voi!" I looked at the cat who claimed to be the annoying voice in my head.

"How come I can see you, and I'm awake?" I was sincerely puzzled. I could never see Voi unless I as in a dream or nightmare. He shrugged.

"I really needed to talk to you, and you blocked off your mind. I have to take extreme cases sometimes." He answered.

"You needed to talk to me? What's so important?"

"Why are you so depressed? Life is full of joy; why only concentrate on the failures and problems you see? Everyone is trying to look on the bright side of life and you bring them down with your negative energy!" He looked at me straight in the eyes as he talked, "Try to lighten up; relax, and help others." Voi slowly faded away.

I looked down at my paws. Maybe I was being a little over reactive. Maybe I should have been more supportive of Stormpaw and Squirrelflight. I looked up at the sky, it was almost sunhigh. I had enough time. I walked back into the forest, allowing all my senses to roam around. At a moment I smelt a mouse but it scattered away. I crouched down, trying to track it back down. As I followed its scent I saw it sitting on a tree root, nibbling on a seed. I wriggled my haunches and prepared to leap. At that moment, a cat burst out of the bushes and caught my prey. I got up and walked towards him.

"Hey! That was my prey!" I yelled out. The cat looked up at me. I immediately recognized those piercing blue eyes, "Frost?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes.

"You." He said bluntly. I flinched at the coldness in his tone, "What do you want? Are you here to rip me to shreds?" He sneered. I held back my insults.

"Stormpaw told me you wanted to join the clan," His ears piped up in interest as he chewed on the mouse, "And considering your hunting skills, that might be possible." He licked his lips and looked at me.

"But?" He said, allowing me to complete the sentence.

"But there's no definite chance Bramblestar accepts you into the clan; Clan life is tough, you might not survive; leaf-bare is soon here, you won't be as cozy as the life you had in your nest; and you'll have to make sure no one finds about your relationship with Stormpaw, I'm not sure it would be regarded well by the others." I finished. I looked him straight in the eyes, and he did the same. We stood there for a moment, him sitting on the root of the tree, me standing by the bushes. Finally he got up and shook the dirt out of his pelt. He looked at me.

"Lead me to your clan, if you please."

**Yay! Frost is joining the clan! Well he hopes so… R&R and put names for SquirrelxBramble's kits! Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to build suspense. Long chapter next time!**


End file.
